More than 80 million Americans decorate the outside of their homes each year with Christmas lights. These lights are typically secured along the edge of the roof beneath overhangs and around the gables of homes using staples, hook or nails. Each string of lights must be secured at several places. A ladder is generally needed to reach these areas requiring the ladder to be moved each time a new staple, hook or nail is placed. Hanging lights is time consuming and dangerous, particularly when extended-height ladders are required for larger homes or home with higher roofs.
Often, lights must be professionally installed. Some homeowners elect to leave the lights up year-round to avoid labor associate with seasonal installation and removal. However, doing so leaves lighting exposed to the elements year-round which may cause deterioration of the lights and require replacement of one or more bulbs or light strands. In addition, visible, unused lighting strands detract from the appearance of the home during times of the year when the lights are not typically illuminated.
Since lighting is a seasonal item, some homeowners decorate their homes for multiple holidays and for special occasions. Consumers may elect to change the colors of the lights they display. For example, a consumer may want to use red and green or multi-colored lights during Christmas and other colors for other holidays (e.g., orange for Halloween; red, white and blue for Independence Day).
In addition to lighting, users may want to suspend or mount temporary signage for commercial uses (e.g., “For Sale”) or for special occasions (“It's a Boy” or “Happy Birthday, Mary”).
There are many devices known in the art to facilitate installation of lights, signage and other ornamentation on gutters. One example of a lighting system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,128 (Prickett '128). Prickett '128 teaches a decorative trim lighting system, the base of which is composed of a folded plastic strip that is adhesively attached to a rain gutter or other exterior edge of a building. Although, the lighting system taught by Prickett '128 does not require the user to clip or hook the light strand directly to the building each time the lights are installed, the system still requires a user to climb a ladder and clip each tab onto the base each time the lights are installed, and to constantly move and reposition the ladder during the installation process.
An example of a lighting system available on the market which does not require repositioning of a ladder is Up-N-Away Track. Up-N-Away Track consists of a track which is attached to the edge of a building using screws. Clips are installed at approximately 1 foot intervals along a light strand. The clips are then loaded onto a storage track by sliding clips in a slot in the storage track. The clips from the storage rack are then installed on the light track by pulling the clips along the track by hand or using a puller. A cam lock is then inserted at the beginning of the light strings. A second cam lock is inserted at the other end locking the lights in place. To remove the lights, the cam locks are removed and the lights are pulled in reverse around the track. Up-N-Away Track lighting system is not desirable because it requires the user to pull directly on the light strand to install and remove the lights from the track which is difficult to do and damages the light strand.
It is desirable to have a modular system for mounting ornamentation to a roof gutter which does not require the user to move and climb a ladder at frequent intervals.
It is further desirable to have a modular system for mounting ornamentation to a roof gutter which does not require the use of staples, nails, screws or adhesive to secure it to a building.
It is further desirable to have a modular system for mounting ornamentation to a roof gutter which does not place stress on the light strands or lights.
It is further desirable to have a modular system for mounting ornamentation to a roof gutter with components that facilitate smooth motion.